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Takeshi Momoshiro
Takeshi Momoshiro '(桃城 武, Momoshiro Takeshi) is a Seigaku regular. He prefers to go by the name "Momo", instead of his family name "Momoshiro". Background When he was first introduced in the Prince of Tennis series, he played an unfinished match with Echizen Ryoma (he did all this to see the twist serve), though Momoshiro was injured at the time. Later, they become best friends and even doubles partners for once (though Ryoma never played Doubles again). For a short time, he is cut from the regulars, after losing to Sadaharu Inui and Kunimitsu Tezuka during Seigaku's 2nd monthly ranking matches. He takes being cut pretty hard and doesn't show up to practices for three days, leading the first years to think that Momoshiro has quit the club. Instead of going to practice, he spent his time playing street tennis; however, as he plays a match with An Tachibana, a good friend of his, he realizes his flaws as a tennis player and that in order for him to become stronger, he needs to stop underestimating his opponents. It is during this time that Momoshiro's importance to Seigaku as a team is revealed. As the player who is the most open and friendly with everyone, Momoshiro is connected to everyone on the team on some level. And as such, he's one of the few members on the team that everyone seems to care about, which is why his disappearance affects all the regulars in some way. Momoshiro is both a capable Singles player and a Doubles player, though the later not initially. Appearance Momoshiro is one of the taller players on the team. He keeps his body well toned with daily workouts. He also takes pride in keeping his hair very spikey, as he is seen in the morning using a lot of gel and a comb to keep it that way. Personality Momoshiro is known as Seigaku’s number one rascal. He really wants to be liked by everyone, which is evident by his preference to be called "Momo-chan," even by the freshmen. As a compromise, some of the freshman call him "Momo-chan-senpai" while the third years call him by "Momo." As Momoshiro is the closest to a true friend Ryoma can claim, the two spend much time together eating hamburgers or playing street tennis. Unlike Ryoma, who is absolutely clueless as a doubles player, Momoshiro develops an affinity for playing doubles and even masters it, despite expressing a preference for singles. Kunimitsu Tezuka, arguably one of the best tennis players in the middle-school circuit, has commented that when Momoshiro realizes his true potential as a tennis player, he'll be an extremely formidable and troublesome opponent. One of Momoshiro's habits is that he underestimates his opponents only to be defeated by them. In this way, he can be seen as arrogant. Although he is not as arrogant as say Ryoma or Atobe, he is still a worthy opponent to play tennis with when calm. It is also claimed that he plays tennis best when he is calm. He, like Eiji, take longer to realise what is going on and usually requires Fuji or Ryoma to tell him what is going on. Momoshiro has formed several rivals in the series, with and Kaoru Kaidoh are eternal rivals, and constantly try to out-do each other. Surprisingly enough, this makes them efficient as a doubles pair, because the two rivals know each other so well. In Genius 379, the last chapter of the manga, Momoshiro is seen as a third year and the new vice-captain of Seigaku, with Kaidō as his captain. It was stated by Sakuno that he is too nice to be captain when she was writing a letter to Ryoma. Their rivalry has, apparently, somewhat mellowed with time. History Districts Prior to the Districts, Momoshiro heard of Echizen coming to Seigaku, and wanted to play against him. They met on the courts when Echizen and his friends were being harrassed by Arai. Momo and Echizen played, and Momo kept trying to return Echizen's Twist Serve, but to no avail. Momo ended the match early as his ankle was injured, but the match resulted in a newfound friendship with Echizen. Momoshiro was scheduled to play in the doubles 2 slot along with Echizen against Tomoya Izumi and Fukawa Kimiyoshi from Gyokurin at the Districts after playing at the street tennis courts and deciding that "real men play doubles." It is also during that time that he meets An Tachibana, but does not realize she was the younger sister of Kippei Tachibana. Momoshiro and Ryoma came up with a strategy "Ah Un". After winning 6-2 and seeing how terrible they originally were in doubles, he was never paired up with Echizen ever again, but he is still competent at doubles. In the finals, against Fudomine, he is a reserve player. He is shocked when he finds out that An was Kippei's younger sister. Prefecturals Momoshiro Kaido pair Ep. 29.jpg|Momoshiro/Kaido pair at the Tokyo Prefecturals. Momoshiro and Seigaku head into the Tokyo Prefecturals as amongst the top seeds after winning their District Tournament. Momoshiro paired up with close rival Kaidoh in Doubles 2 against St.Rudolph's Shinya Yanagisawa and Atsushi Kisarazu . Because of their heated rivalry, almost everyone assumed it would get in the way of the matcvh; surprisingly, they know each other's play style and are proven to be an efficient doubles pairing. Momo uses a powerful Dunk Smash to knock Shinya unconcious, resulting in him and Kaidoh winning by default. For the semifinals, Ginka forfeited the whole match against Seigaku out of fear after realizing their strength. Seigaku ended up taking on Yamabuki in the Finals of the Tournament. Here, Momoshiro played in Singles 3 against Yamabuki's 3rd year ace Kiyosumi Sengoku. Momoshiro caused one of the upsets of the tournament by defeating Sengoku by mastering 'Jack Knife, which is the result of his injured ankle being completely healed. Regionals Momoshiro loses his position on the team after losing to Inui in the ranking matches. His being cut from the team even leads to the temporary break up of the Golden Pair after they fight, and even Eiji Kikumaru notes how practices are not the same without Momoshiro around. Although Ryoma, in particular, seems unconcerned about Momoshiro being cut from the team, in reality, he is worried about Momoshiro and goes looking for him during lunch period; it is a moment that reveals both how important Momoshiro's friendship is to Ryoma and how important Momoshiro is to Seigaku. Momo finds some comfort by playing friendly tennis with An Tachibana, and he is the first to see Hyotei Academy's true power when he played against Munehiro Kabaji. Thus, when Momoshiro returns to practices, all seems right with the team again, although Tezuka punishes him for missing practice by making him run a record high of 100 laps. This is also when Momoshiro's character is revealed that despite being cut from the team, he is determined to support and cheer his teammates on as they face Hyōtei in the Regionals. Yet, Momoshiro ends up having to play a serious part again, almost instantly, when Oishi gets injured and doesn't show up for the match against Hyōtei. Momoshiro's character is further revealed as he shows courage by first attempting to relieve Oishi from the hospital as quickly as possible and then, by being the one to take Oishi's place as Eiji's partner. Up until this point, Momoshiro is still a novice at playing doubles. But in one of Momoshiro's finest moments, he not only helps Eiji win the match against Hyotei, but takes the opportunity to master doubles with Oishi's quickly-given advice. Spectators even said Momoshiro and Eiji playing was like watching the Golden Pair. Momoshiro shows that he is not only one of the most adaptable people in Seigaku, but he's also a player and a friend who always gives 100% and comes through for his teammates. Even Inui has noted that Momoshiro's ability to overcome hurdles is amazing. He then is able to remain as a regular on the team when Tezuka has to leave the team to recuperate from his injury from his match with Hyōtei's Keigo Atobe. Momoshiro partners with Inui to face the Tanaka twins of Josei Shonan in the anime. Tanaka Youhei and Tanaka Kouhei take the lead due to their good prediction abilities from Youhei's excellent eyesight and Kouhei's excellent hearing. However Momoshiro's prediction abilities improve greatly during the match and help him and Inui come from 4-0 down to leading 5-4. Unfortunately while changing sides, Momoshiro accidentally drinks Inui's Special Juice and faints causing them to forfeit the match. In the Kanto Regional Semifinals against Rokkaku, Momoshiro pairs with Takashi Kawamura in Doubles 2 against Hikaru Amane/Harukaze Kurobane pair. After being dominated for 5 straight games, thanks to Kawamura's new Dash Hadoukyu and Momoshiro's improved Prediction abilities, they are able to dramatically revive their hopes of winning and bring the scoreline to 6-6. Thanks to Momoshiro's trickery, they win 7-6. In the anime, when the finals match against Rikkai Daigaku Fuzoku is postponed, the tennis team goes to a camp to train. Momo trains rigorously, and in the practice matches with Hyotei, Momo develops the Super Great Momoshio Special, a more powerful Dunk Smash that spins for a long time on the court before bouncing, thus confusing the opponent as to when it will bounce up. The name felt too long by everyone, so it would eventually be renamed as the Super Dunk. Momoshiro pairs with Kaidoh in Doubles 2 in the Finals against Marui Bunta/Jackal Kuwahara pair and engage in a long and exhausting match, with all players unveiling all of their special moves. In the manga, they lose 6-1. However, in the anime, the match goes on far longer than expected and after a gruelingly long and tiresome game, they eventually lose 7-5. Seigaku, however, still wins the Finals. Regional Select Invitational Camp Momoshiro and the rest of Seigaku (except Tezuka) recieve an invitation to participate in the camp. He, along with Echizen, Oishi, and Eiji were put into Sumire's group. He does everything he can do become a member to play against the American team, but he does not get chosen. Regional Select Invitationals Momoshiro does not get chosen as a member, so he becomes a member of the audience to watch his teammates Echizen, Fuji, and Eiji play against the American team. Prior To Nationals In the anime, during the Inter-school ranking tournament, before the National tournament, Momoshiro and Echizen played a singles match to determine who'll be a regular. Unfortunately, after Momoshiro was leading 4-0, Echizen decided to forfeit the game and Momoshiro was angry at him for not taking this match seriously. Momoshiro also plays and wins a tight match against Kaidoh. Eventually, Momoshiro finally realized that Echizen really wanted to take part in the US Open even though Echizen said he would attend the Nationals with the regulars. They then played a friendly singles game, despite Momoshiro losing 6-2, his friendship with Echizen has been the most valuable ever since their first encounter. Nationals At the Nationals, Momohsiro's true abilities are shown. His massive improvement is greatly acknowledged in his match against Oshitari Yūshi making the Hyotei team surprised by his new Insight. Although he ended up losing in the end despite being 4 games up, Oshitari was playing a 'pokerface' and simply took 6 straight games. However, within that match, he was shown to be a great and formidable player of Seigaku, as he stunned Oshitari with his immense power and ended up numbing his hand. However, this wasn't enough to stop Oshitari from defeating him. He was also instrumental in defeating the Comedy Doubles pair Konjiki Koharu/Hitōji Yūji of Shitenhōji. He is then confirmed as the next Vice-Captain of Seigaku. U-17 Camp Momoshiro obtaining his ball.jpg|Momo feeling the pain from Oni's Black Jack Knife. Oni owning Momoshiro.jpg|Oni overwhelming Momoshiro in the Player Shuffle. After the Nationals, where Seigaku ended up as victorious, Momo and the rest of the Seigaku team (even Echizen, who was in America at the moment) was invited to the U-17 selection camp , along with several other middle-schoolers. He ended up playing in a Shuffle match against the "Gate Keeper" of court 5, Oni Juujiro. Similar to his prior match wtih Sengoku, Momoshiro had one of the techniques he used, used against him. Oni uses Jack Knife against him and goes on to use an even more powerful version called Black Jack Knife and hands Momoshiro a crushing 0-6 defeat, but ended up gaining an experience about the strength of the U-17 camp. Due to the damage done to his wrist after losing to Oni Juujiro, Momoshiro makes the difficult decision to forfeit his match against Sengoku Kiyosumi. He then with the rest of the Middle School losers went to the mountain to train with the High School losers under the Drunken Coach. Afterwards, the Middle School losers come back, not as losers but as the 2nd Court. It is unknown who took part in the matches, but the 8 players of the previous court were defeated and replaced. After some quick shuffle matches, the Top 20 U-17 players of Japan arrive back at the camp from their expedition. Former Shitenhoji captain and High School 1st Year Hara Tetsuya and No.19 Representative and also the Shitenhoji captain before him and High School 2nd year Taira Yoshiyuki the No.18, finished off their 2nd Stringer challengers quickly with ease and they accept Momoshiro along with Oshitari Kenya's challenge to the two of them and engage in a doubles match. Taira and Hara dominate Momoshiro and Kenya, until Momoshiro finally unveils Black Jack Knife tha he presumably mastered while training in the mountains. Thanks to this, Momoshiro and Kenya are able to defeat Taira and Hara and replace them as the No.19 and No.18 of the All-Japan Juniors respectively. No.s 11-19 are all defeated and replaced by Middle Schoolers. Playing Styles and Techniques Momoshiro is an Aggressive Baseliner, mostly using his power to take control of the game. Momoshiro's signature move is the "Dunk Smash," a very powerful response to lobs as he leaps several feet into the air, which he likes to finish off saying, "Don," upon landing. He later develops the "Jack Knife," a strong backhand shot. However, Momoshiro develops an affinity for playing doubles and even masters it, despite expressing a preference for singles. Momoshiro is good at "faking out" his opponents, and can be extremely sly and tricky on the courts. His ability to read the opponent's movements and to observe their viewpoints and expression allow Momoshiro to read his opponent, thus he is able to guess where the ball will go and use shots that will confuse his opponents. ;Dunk Smash (ダンクスマッシュ) : Momoshiro's signature move to finish off lobs; however, Momoshiro's Dunk Smash is different than normal smashes in that he uses the momentum from running to hit the smash, through perfect timing, by jumping forward, instead of the usual jumping backwards to hit a smash; thus causing Momoshiro's Dunk Smash to be twice as powerful and more effective than a normal smash. :Also, Momoshiro can do a Dunk Volley, where if his opponents predict a Dunk Smash, he can do a fake volley to confuse his opponents. ;Super Dunk :Similar to the "Dunk Smash"; however, "Super Dunk" is unique in that Momoshiro uses his strength to delay the timing of the ball's bounce after it has hit the ground, thus making predicting when the ball will bounce off the ground difficult. Momoshiro developed this shot during a practice match with Gakuto Mukahi of Hyōtei Academy. The name was changed from "Super Great Momoshiro Special" to "Super Dunk" because many complained about the former being so long and tacky. ;Bullet Serve (弾丸サーブ) :A fast and powerful serve Momoshiro likes to use. However, other than that, it's a normal serve when compared to other characters. ;Jack Knife (ジャックナイフ) : The Jack Knife is a fast, sharp and powerful high-leveled backhand shot made by using the front foot to jump into the air with balance while utilizing the weight of the body to achieve maximum strength. When Momoshiro uses the Jack Knife, he keeps the ball at his racket until the last moment to make it a strong shot. He uses this move to win his match against Yamabuki's Sengoku. :It is noted in the anime that the Jack Knife is a move no ordinary junior high student can do, only professionals are able to use the move successfully, which makes Momoshiro especially formidable as he can use it. Even Atobe Keigo of Hyōtei was taken by surprise. :It is shown that he started to adjust his backhand to this shot during a practice match with his captain, Tezuka Kunimitsu. ;Tornado Snake (トルネードスネイク) :One of the signature shots of his rival, Kaidō Kaoru, Momoshiro uses this shot during his and Kaidō's match against Hitōji and Konjiki of Shitenhōji, in order to cause them to think he and Kaidō have switched places (they were wearing masks at the time). A slice shot hit at a 45 degree angle to create a gyro spin, Momoshiro was also able to fake out the opponent by disguising this technique as the Dunk Smash. ;Calm Insight :Prior to the Nationals tournament, Insight is a skill Momoshiro unearths during his training in the mountains. While Atobe's Insight is able to see through his opponent, Momoshiro's Insight is more nature-based, as he is able to sense the subtle changes in the atmosphere around him and use it to his advantage. Unfortunately, Oshitari figures out and covers his weak spots against Momoshiro. ;Prediction (読心) :During his match with the Kurobane/Amane pair of Rokkaku in Doubles 2, Momoshiro was able to predict his opponent's moves and where the ball was going to land. He was able to recognize the ball was going to be out when they were playing for match point thus ultimately winning the match for Seigaku. That was shown during his match against Oshitari Yūshi. While playing Oshitari, Momoshiro gives up his "Prediction" style of playing and returns to his previous tenacious play style by playing at 100% power and re-integrating his "Jack Knife" shot. ;Black Jack Knife : A more powerful version of the Jack Knife. It has twice of power and speed. During his match against Hara Tetsuya and Taira Yoshiyuki (U-17 Japanese Tennis Representatives, number 19 and 18 respectively), Momo managed to overcome Taira's Bakyuun with this amazing move that acquired while remembering what Jujiro Oni said to him after receiving a crushing defeat. Then, he uses the Black Jack Knife and breaks Hara and Taira racket guts in an instant. Australian Formation (オーストラリアン・フォーメーション) :Both Momoshiro, who is serving, and Kikumaru, who is near the net, position themselves at the midline. This makes it harder for the returner to decide which side to return the ball to. Tennis Record Official Middle School Tournament *'NOTE-1' Momoshiro (accidentally) knocked out Yanagisawa with a Dunk Smash that was hit off a slice lob, which caused the ball to change course and gave the Momo/Kaido pair the win, although Momo (tried to) protest. *'NOTE-2' The match against Midoriyama only took place in the manga, while Josei Shonan's match existed only in the anime. *'NOTE-3' In the manga, the Momo/Kaido pair lost with the score of 1-6, while they lost in the anime with the score of 5-7. *'NOTE-4' In the manga, the Momo/Kaido pair won with the score of 7-6 (unknown tiebreaker score), while they won in the anime with the score of 7-5. Other Matches U-17 Camp Results * '''NOTE-1 '''Momoshiro had to forfeit his Tie-Break style game with Sengoku due to a severe wrist injury he sustained against Oni. Trivia *Height : 170cm *Weight: 58kg *In the Prince of Tennis Musicals, Momoshiro has been portrayed by actors Eiji Moriyama (2003-2005), Masaki Kaji (2005-2006), Shinpei Takagi (2006-2007), Tetsuya Makita (2007-2009), Toshihiro Nobuyama (2008-2010), and Toru Kamitsuru (2011-present). For the live-action film, Momoshiro was portrayed by Masaki Kaji. *Momoshiro's favorite shoes are PUMA (ASPIRATION PT0631 0020). Momoshiro also uses a Mizuno (PROLIGHT P10 Ti Hyper) racquet. *Known relatives of Momo are his father, mother, younger brother, and younger sister. His younger sister appeared once in the manga, and commented about the design of the Seigaku headbands Momo created (negatively). His father is also an office worker. *Momo's favorite foods are Shrimp Cutlet Burger and Very Berry Coco Parfait. He seems to eat hamburgers several times in the anime, usually with Ryoma and Eiji, and is mentioned to do the same in the manga. *Momo's hobbies are listening to music and playing sensory games. His favorite subject and color is math and red, respectively. *In the fourth character popularity poll for the series run by Weekly Shonen Jump, Momoshiro came in 9th place. *For the First time in the series, in New Prince of Tennis, Momoshiro was outside the Top 20, and the Top 30 in the 1st New Prince of Tennis Popularity Poll. Category:Characters Category:Tennis Player Category:Seigaku Tennis Club Member Category:Middle Schooler Category:2nd Year Middle School Category:U-17 Camp Category:Aggressive Baseliner Category:Right-Handed Category:Tokyo Players Category:Kanto Players Category:Has an episode named after them Category:Doubles Specialists Category:Capable with Singles and Doubles Category:Power Play Users Category:Middle School Vice-Captain